


when you're by my side, everything's alright

by aiichiro



Category: Free!
Genre: Hugs, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Pining Rin, Sad Makoto, high speed spoilers, just wanted to see somebody take care of makoto because i love him and he deserves ALL the hugs, no beta we're sad and we live life on the edge
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-06
Updated: 2020-07-06
Packaged: 2021-03-04 22:46:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 882
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25114117
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aiichiro/pseuds/aiichiro
Summary: Makoto has always been too small, too gentle for his large physique. He stands tall and confident, but Rin can see through all of that false bravado in the way Makoto subtly ducks his chin when he’s with his friends, the way his eyes flicker downwards when he’s walking, the way his long slender fingers wring themselves together just so they’re doingsomething—Right now, Makoto is the smallest Rin has ever seen him.(Alternatively, Rin's there to hold Makoto when everything feels like it's falling apart.)
Relationships: Matsuoka Rin/Tachibana Makoto
Comments: 3
Kudos: 53





	when you're by my side, everything's alright

**Author's Note:**

> this is set somewhere in free! eternal summer.

“ _Shit_ , Makoto...” Rin breathes.

He stumbles his way across the dark, almost eerily silent locker room of Iwatobi Returns. There isn’t even a slight flinch as Rin drops to his knees before the tall figure clad in school-issued white button-up and grey slacks crouched in the corner of the room. Beside him lay his green Iwatobi High tie, and a gym bag haphazardly strewn next to it. Rin would have been worried about how still and _lifeless_ his friend’s body was if not for the steady, shallow breaths escaping his lips.

(Against the moonlight streaming into the room from the high windows, Makoto’s bitten-red lips are like prettylittle pomegranate seeds, Rin’s mind uselessly supplies.)

His wide shoulders are hunching over, and strong arms are holding the too-big body against itself firmly, protectively. Makoto has always been too small, too gentle for his large physique. He stands tall and confident, but Rin can see through all of that false bravado in the way Makoto subtly ducks his chin when he’s with his friends, the way his eyes flicker downwards when he’s walking, the way his long slender fingers wring themselves together just so they’re doing _something_. Right now, Makoto is the smallest Rin has ever seen him.

Rin’s trembling fingers reach for tear-streaked face after a moment of drinking in all of Makoto. His fingers land softly against Makoto’s jaw, and his thumb hesitantly hovers over his cheekbone, trembling, almost touching. He softly nudges Makoto’s chin up to meet his eyes.

“Rin, you’re here,” Makoto whispers back, finally.

It’s a broken little sound, and it breaks Rin’s heart in return. Makoto is looking at Rin, but his gentle green eyes are void of its usual spark that on a regular day makes Rin’s heart do weird dances. Rin searches his gaze — hazy and unfocused, it’s like he’s not really looking at Rin, looking _through_ him like he isn't there — it’s not there, now, that spark that he adores with all of his heart. And his heart promptly drops to his feet.

Rin helplessly looks into the empty, emerald orbs, searching. Tears well up in his own eyes. He refuses to let them fall, though.

He takes a single deep breath and says, with all the conviction he can muster, “I’m here, Makoto.”

( _I’m here for you. Always here. Always have been. Makoto, I’m here I’m here I’m here_ — all words unsaid, but it doesn’t need to be.)

Just like that, the calm breaks into a storm, and Makoto’s lips twist around a shuddering sob. Rin’s thumb finally falls into its rightful place, caressing the taller boy’s cheeks firmly and wiping every single tear of sorrow away, the other hand shooting up to do the same. Makoto’s entire frame is shaking like a leaf, chest heaving with sobs he tries to hold back futilely.

He’s suddenly transported to back to elementary school, and by the river is little Rin standing frozen in shock while little Makoto cries and trembles and yells “Haru! Haru!” and in a blink of an eye he’s back in the locker room in Iwatobi Returns again, and Makoto is trembling as badly as he did back then. With the chestnut framed face in his hands, Rin can feel every single cry that rips through Makoto’s body and it’s not _nearly_ enough, just wiping tears and looking on uselessly as the love of his life breaks down in front of him.

But Rin is not that elementary schooler anymore, and he refuses to be that useless kid. Never again.

With that steel-like resolution, Rin holds Makoto’s face up and leans down to press his forehead against his. Makoto goes still, and his teeth press into his plush bottom lip in a valiant effort to silence his cries as his face is pressed close to Rin's. (Too close, too transparent, too vulnerable.) Harsh exhales continue to escape from his nose, his eyes slip shut as more tears run down his face, and his body doesn’t stop its tremors.

Rin whispers fiercely, his hands cupping and squeezing Makoto’s cheeks a little, “Look at me, Makoto. _Look._ At me.”

Now, Makoto’s eyelids slowly peel open to reveal his gorgeous emeralds, and finally, they are looking at him, _seeing_ him. And it’s enough for Rin. Enough for him to let a few stray tears slip down his face and a smile spread across his face.

“You’ll be okay. I promise you,” Rin says, and in his heart, he promises Makoto the whole world.

Rin squishes Makoto’s cheeks again for good measure, and after a moment Makoto lets a pearly, wet little laugh escape his lips. The laugh is part bitter and part self-deprecating and part something else _warmer_. Makoto tears his face away from Rin’s hands and promptly replaces them with a face full of Rin’s jacket. He’s crying and laughing against him, and it’s not the same restrained sounds from earlier, it’s _free_ , and Rin’s heart feels like it’s too small to contain the overflowing adoration for Makoto.

“Okay,” Makoto hiccups in between his tears, voice muffled into Rin’s chest. “I-I believe you.”

Rin holds Makoto as hard as Makoto holds him, and this, here, protecting his Makoto from all the sorrows of the world, is where Rin feels like he most belongs.

**Author's Note:**

> comments & kudos are appreciated!


End file.
